We all need good clear direction on what it is we are trying to build and breeding pigeons is no different.
Like anything we build, we must have a plan that is sound and we must have the vision that will make it the bird we wish for. Blueprinting is simply a plan of the parts you need to build the bird you desire, looking at the breed's standard helps fix those must-have parts, or does it?
Just recently I viewed a breed that is losing its way because for a bird well known for particular markings none that were shown had them in any quality, if it fails to have those markings does it become something else?
The markings of any breed need very careful handling as showing a badly marked bird is not doing the standard any justice, breeding correctly-marked birds of any breed is the correct path too take.
It is by breeding the correct markings and then introducing the parts you wish to improve that keeps you on or near the standard. Breeding for selective markings must involve breeding more birds than breeding for selfs because its harder to get right and that gives us more choice or variation to choose from.
The trade-off is type over markings, but how far do you take that and at what point do you say enough is enough. If it is a marked variety markings must come before type or you might just as well breed self-marked birds.
It is a numbers game as the choice is from a larger pool of birds so the odds of breeding even the slightest improvement are better, correcting the markings should be seen as the correct path in getting a better show-marked bird. There is nothing that you could not reproduce given time. Already in Germany somebody has produced a Cropper breed that has the Archangel's colour with correct lustre so understand when I mean nothing is not changeable.
All any change takes is vision, so if any part is lacking in your breed you have the ability to change it, knowing the direction you need to take is fundamental.
Any fault is magnified every time it is paired to a bird that has the same fault and like inbreeding we must never pair two pigeons with the same fault, it is having the eye to see even small faults quickly and noting it down as a fault. Would I breed from birds with faults? Well the answer is yes, I would because that's what most of us do anyway, our notes help us by not pairing the same faults together and it helps us understand the background of our birds.
